Food & Beverage

Soft Drinks

The formation of F&N Coca Cola Pte Ltd, a joint venture with The Coca-Cola Company in 1992 to be a regional anchor bottler for Coke, further strengthened a partnership that goes back to 1936 when Fraser and Neave, Limited ("F&NL" or the "Group") secured the Coca-Cola franchise for Singapore and Malaysia. Through this partnership, F&NL's soft drinks business was expanded over a larger region, including Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan.

1996 was a landmark year of strategic restructuring in Malaysia, the stronghold of F&NL's soft drinks business. In compliance with Malaysia's National Development Policy, the Group's glass, dairies and soft drinks operations in Malaysia were consolidated under the umbrella of Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd.

F&NL's soft drinks business was adversely affected by the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the regional recession that ensued. The uncertain outlook for the business prompted the Group to divest its majority share in F&NL Coca Cola Pte Ltd to The Coca-Cola Company. The soft drinks operations in Malaysia under Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd were, however, retained within the Group. A bold restructuring and rationalisation exercise by the Group has since returned Malaysian soft drinks business to profitability. Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd's key focus is to strengthen its infrastructure to secure market leadership, and ensure its long-term growth and profitability.

The Group's Malaysia soft drinks division produces the world's most popular carbonated soft drinks brands - Coca-Cola, Coke Light and Sprite, as well as regional favourites F&N Orange, F&N Fun Flavours and F&N Sarsi as well as non-carbonated drinks like F&N SEASONS (Asian drinks), F&N Fruit Tree (juice drinks) and 100PLUS (isotonic drinks).

Breweries

Fraser and Neave, Limited's ("F&NL" or the "Group") brewery business is primarily executed via Asia Pacific Breweries Limited ("APB"). APB was founded in 1931 as a joint venture between F&N (39.69%) and Heineken NV of Holland (41.67%). In 1932, the first brewery was opened in Singapore and soon after, Tiger Beer was launched as the original Singapore-brewed beer.

Today, APB, listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, is one of the key players in the beer industry. It operates 32 breweries in 11 countries, namely Singapore (1), Malaysia (1), Thailand (1), Vietnam (5), Cambodia (1), China (14), New Zealand (4), Papua New Guinea (2), India (1), Mongolia (1) and Sri Lanka (1). With its recent joint ventures in India and Laos as well as further expansion in China, APB's brewery count is expected to add up to 35 in 12 countries within the first quarter of 2008.

APB has a portfolio of over 40 beer brands and brand variants, and exports to more than 60 countries around the world. Apart from its world-class Tiger and Heineken beers, APB's portfolio of leading brands in Singapore and Malaysia includes Anchor, Baron's and ABC.

With more than 75 years in the brewing industry, APB has been consistently ranked by the Far Eastern Economic Review as one of the top companies in Asia. KPMG also rated APB as among the top ten value creators in Singapore, for having consistently added value for its customers, consumers and shareholders.

APB benchmarks itself against international brewing standards and observes the most stringent brewing process that sees no less than 250 quality control checks. This explains why APB breweries are among the forerunners in their respective markets with various quality assurance certifications including the ISO 9002, ISO 9001:2000, and the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point.

APB's flagship brew, Tiger Beer commands a strong following in Asia and is also widely enjoyed in many European cities such as London, Manchester, Dublin, Glasgow, Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm and many others. The internationally recognised Singapore beer has accumulated a long list of accolades, awards and distinctions. The most notable include an international award at the Brewers Exhibition in London, the Brewing Industry International Awards, UK, 1998 (the equivalent of the Oscar Awards for the brewing industry) and the coveted Gold Monde International Quality Trophy. More recently, Tiger Beer won the Gold medal in the European Style Pilsener category of the 2004 World Beer Cup, a competition which is considered "the Olympics of Beer Competitions" by the industry. The same year also saw the brew being named one of the coolest brands in the UK by SuperBrands UK Ltd, an independent arbiter on branding in the UK.

APB continues its growth momentum through its quest to explore and develop new markets in the region. The success of its earlier regionalisation is validated with over 4 out of 5 Tiger Beers are now consumed outside of Singapore.

Dairies

Fraser and Neave, Limited ("F&NL" or the "Group") began its entry into the dairy business in 1959 through a joint venture with Beatrice Foods International of the United States ('US'), in Malaysia. Shortly, it launched a totally new line of products, the sweetened condensed milk, as its major step forward in the establishment of a dairy industry in the ASEAN region. The Carnation Company, also from the US, joined the partnership in 1965 and renamed the operation, Premier Milk (M).

In 1989, the Group acquired the interests of Beatrice Foods International in the joint venture and restructured its dairy operations under F&N Dairies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.

F&NL's dairy business was further strengthened in 1968 when it acquired the dairy operations of Cold Storage Holdings, including the flagship Magnolia brand, in Singapore. The expanded dairy business operated under the name of Asia Dairies, which has since been renamed F&N Foods Pte Ltd.

With this move, the Group developed new capabilities in producing and marketing pasteurised milk, sweetened condensed milk, milk powder, fruit juices, pasteurised soy, pasteurised tea, ice cream and yoghurt for the Singapore and Malaysia markets as well as for export to Brunei, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Maldives, Australia and Africa.

In 1999, Fraser and Neave acquired a 60% stake in an ice cream business owned by United Foods Ltd in Thailand, an important first step in gaining a foothold in the Thai ice cream market. Later, the Group went on and acquired another 35% from its partners and renamed the business F&N United Limited. F&N United is today a major producer of novelty and take-home tub ice cream products for the Fraser and Neave Group as well as contract packs for customers throughout the Asia Pacific, with the overall goal of achieving economies of scale.

Riding on the strong growth path and as part of the Group's regionalisation efforts, in 2002, F&NL moved into Vietnam and setup its greenfield dairy operations in the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park in Ho Chi Minh City, to produce, market and distribute milk powder, sterilised and UHT milk.

Today, Fraser and Neave, Limited is one of the leading dairy players in the Singapore and Malaysia dairy industry with a portfolio of over 10 dairy brands in its portfolio. Some of the most trusted brand names include F&N Magnolia , F&N Daisy , F&N Fruit Tree Fresh , F&N Nutrisoy , F&N Nutritea , Farmhouse , and Meadow Gold . The Group has dairy operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and China and exports to more than 30 countries around the world. To this day, it continues to offer top quality brands and innovative packaging to meet the individual needs of the dairy consumer, whenever, wherever and however through its wide distribution and product mix.

Glass Containers

Fraser and Neave, Limited's ("F&NL" or the "Group") glass container manufacturing business grew out of an investment in Malaya Glass Factory Bhd in Malaysia in 1972 via Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd. Subsequently, the glass container business made its first overseas foray in 1993 when it formed a joint venture company, Malaya Vietnam Glass Ltd, in Vietnam. In May 2000, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd acquired the entire issued share capital of Kuala Lumpur Glass Manufacturers Co Sdn Bhd, a strategic move that enhanced the Group's leadership position in the Malaysian glass industry.

F&NL's regionalisation efforts continued. In August 2001, the Group glass container business entered China, through a joint venture with Tuopai Liquor Co to build a greenfield glass container manufacturing plant in Sichuan, mainly catering to the Chinese joint venture partner. Subsequently, the joint venture company acquired the glass container manufacturing operations of Sichuan Tuopai Holdings Co.

These glass container plants manufacture for the Group as well as for customers in the food, beverages and pharmaceutical sectors throughout the Asia Pacific.

Today, the Group is the largest glass container manufacturer with four glass container plants strategically located in three countries, namely Malaysia (x2), Vietnam (1) and China (1). In keeping with the anticipated growth, the Group is constructing its fifth state-of-the-art glass plant, in Thailand. Upon completion, the Group's glass container division will be the only regional manufacturer that is capable of meeting multinational companies' demands.